|
|
Sax Rohmer
Sax Rohmer (1883-1959) was the pseudonym of British author Arthur Sarsfield Wade (sometimes Ward). He worked briefly in finance and journalism before writing fiction full-time. Rohmer was interested in Ancient Egypt, the Orient, and the occult and employed many of these elements in his novels. Rohmer is best known for his character Fu Manchu, an aristocratic Chinese criminal-genius.
Fu Manchu is introduced in The Insidious Fu Manchu (1913) which was originally published as a serial. As times changed, the Fu Manchu character becomes an ardent anti-Communist. Rohmer published many Fu Manchu stories in different formats, with minor changes, in both magazines and collections.
The Yellow Claw (1915) and The Golden Scorpion (1920) are about another "yellow peril" mastermind, the Scorpion.
"Imagine a person, tall, lean and feline,high-shouldered, with a brow like Shakespeare and a face like Satan, a close-shaven skull, and long, magnetic eyes of the true cat-green. Invest him with all the cruel cunning of an entire Eastern race, accumulated in one giant intellect, with all the resources of science past and present, with all the resources, if you will, of a wealthy government--which, however, already has denied all knowledge of his existence.
Imagine that awful being, and you have a mental picture of Dr. Fu-Manchu, the yellow peril incarnate in one man."
Nayland Smith to Dr. Petrie, "The Insidious Dr. Fu Manchu"
The Books of Fu Manchu (U.S. Titles)
1913 The Insidious Fu Manchu
1916 The Devil Doctor
1917 The Hand of Fu Manchu
1929 The Book of Fu Manchu
1931 The Daughter of Fu Manchu
1932 The Mask of Fu Manchu
1933 Fu Manchu's Bride
1934 The Trail of Fu Manchu
1934 The Trail of Fu Manchu
1936 President Fu Manchu
1939 The Drums of Fu Manchu
1941 The Island of Fu Manchu
1948 The Shadow of Fu Manchu
1957 Re-Enter Fu Manchu
|
|
This article was written by Knowledgerush staff or contributed by users. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.
|
|
Arthur Henry Sarsfield Ward (February 15, 1883 - June 1, 1959), better known as Sax Rohmer, was a prolific English novelist. He is most remembered for his series of novels featuring the master criminal Dr. Fu Manchu.
Born in Birmingham he had a entirely undistinguished education and early career before beginning to write. His first published work was in 1903, the short story The Mysterious Mummy for Pearson's Weekly. He made his early living writing comedy sketches for performers and short stories and serials for magazines. In 1909 he married Rose Knox. He published his first novel in 1910, Pause! and the first Fu Manchu story, The Mystery of Dr. Fu Manchu was serialized over 1912-13. It was a immediate success with its pacy and racist story of Nayland Smith and Dr. Petrie facing the worldwide conspiracy of the 'Yellow Peril'. The Fu Manchu stories, together with those featuring Gaston Max or Morris Klaw, made Rohmer one of the most successful and well-paid writers in of the 1920s and 1930s. But Rohmer was very poor at handling his wealth. After World War II the Rohmers moved to New York.
A number of films were made featuring Dr. Fu Manchu. The Mask of Fu Manchu (1932), featuring Boris Karloff, was the best of those produced in the 1930s film. The name was revived in a very variable series starring Christopher Lee in the 1960s with The Face of Fu Manchu (1965), The Brides of Fu Manchu (1966), The Vengeance of Fu Manchu (1967), and The Blood of Fu Manchu (1968).
His writing is generally considered poor, his imaginative ideas buried in a simple style, repetitive plotlines and stylized characters.
Selected Bibliography
- Pause!, 1910
- The Sins of Severac Babylon, 1912
- The Mystery of Dr. Fu-Manchu, 1913
- The Yellow Claw, 1915
- The Devil Doctor, 1916
- The Si-Fan Mysteries, 1917
- Tales of Secret Egypt, 1918
- Dope, 1919
- The Golden Scorpion, 1919
- The Dream Detective, 1920
- Tales of Chinatown, 1922
- Yellow Shadows, 1925
- The Book of Fu-Manchu, 1929
- The Daughter of Fu-Manchu, 1931
- Fu-Manchu's Bride, 1933
- The Drums of Fu-Manchu, 1939
- The Shadow of Fu-Manchu, 1948
- Re-enter Fu-Manchu, 1957
External link
Referenced By
15 February | 15th February | 1883 | 1883 in literature | 1 June | 1st June | Dr. Fu Manchu | Ellis Parker Butler | February 15 | February 15th | Fu-Manchu | Fu Manchu | John Cunliffe | June 1 | June 1st | List of English novelists | List of novelists by country: England | List of people by name: Ro | Villain | Yellow peril
|
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Sax Rohmer".
View article history.
|
If you know facts or have questions about this author post them here.
|
Barrister Tanko Yusuf,
the mystery of a phantom hand opened the door, the search party underlined in red ink whispered into the shadows of the corridor, the gilded salon of guests whose names had appeared under a palm of lost property glanced about the rows of unopened works turned to the message, daddy needs a new pair of shoes.
Barrister Tanko Yusuf,
it was only a bender fender, in the trunk of the car was a toy car carrying three antique gerbils, dead as a doornail stuck in a baobob tree turned sideways before the first world war, dressed in oriental robes and smoking cigarillos. we have spent the money. contact us using the numbers you will find beneath your shadow on the next full moon and we will send you your retainer fee. Signed, Keekee, Deekee and Joe.
|
|
